The next, and specially indispensable, condition for receiving the
benefits of the atonement is faith. This means nothing more nor less
than taking God at His word. We are assured that without faith it is
impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe "that
He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for," because it makes them
real. It is "the evidence of things not seen" because it convinces the
mind of their actual existence. It is true that all men believe
something, and, therefore, that all men have faith. It is not true that
all men believe God, and, therefore, not true that all men have saving
faith.

And here we must make a distinction. Faith is often said to be the gift
of God, and in the sense of the grace of faith, or the power of
believing, this is true. But the act of faith is the actual exercise of
the power of believing, which God has given us. It involves the putting
forth of the choosing power of the human will, that we may accept the
salvation which is offered us. God has given to us all the faith
faculty, just as He has given to us the seeing faculty. In the one
case, as in the other, we are responsible for the exercise of the
faculty thus given. The proper object of the seeing faculty is the
world around us, with all its multiplicity of existences. We may open
our eyes and see or we may close them and fail to see. The proper
object of the faith faculty is truth, and especially gospel truth, the
truth of salvation through a crucified and risen Lord. We may exercise
our believing power and accept this great salvation or we may close our
faith-eyes, and fail to see and believe, and this to our eternal loss.

For God commands us to believe and holds us responsible for obedience